Key to severe COVID-19 inflammation in the high-risk group. Plasma therapy appropriate only for some patients

(Reuters)-The following is a brief summary of some of the latest scientific research on the new coronavirus and efforts to find cures and vaccines for the virus-caused disease COVID-19.

Study may explain the severity of COVID-19 in high-risk groups

A small study of high-risk COVID-19 patients may help explain why their health problems contribute to more severe cases of illness. Chronic conditions such as obesity, diabetes, liver disease, high blood pressure and heart disease also cause inflammation. Researchers investigated 16 COVID-19 patients with these conditions and found the enzyme caspase-1 and the inflammatory protein IL-18 in all of them-evidence of an immune system process called the inflammasome, and immunity. A cell death called pyroptosis that leads to the loss of cells and forms. In addition to their pre-existing inflammation, inflammasome activation may result in “hyperinflammation” and immune dysfunction that make these patients very severe, at the MedStar Georgetown Transplant Institute in Washington, DC ( MGTI) and SUNY Downstate Medical Center researcher Brooklyn. “There have been speculations about Inflammasome and SARS-CoV-2 for months,” as Inflammasome is also involved in other viral infections, says MGTI co-author Dr. Alexander Kroemer. I told Reuters. Demonstrate activated inflammasome in COVID-19 patients. These findings, published Monday in the Journal of Hepatology, “help explain why vulnerable patient groups are so seriously affected by COVID-19,” he said.

Only certain patients likely to benefit from antibody-rich plasma

The new study may suggest that doctors may need to be more selective about who to treat with plasma from a recovered COVID-19 patient, prioritizing patients who are just starting their symptoms. I am. Researchers are testing whether infusion of antibody-rich convalescent plasma accelerates recovery in COVID-19 patients. Dutch investigators discontinue convalescent plasma test early after only 86 inpatients were enrolled on Friday as nearly 80% were found to already have their own neutralizing antibodies Said he did. “These observations have raised concerns about the potential benefits of convalescent plasma in the study population,” the authors wrote in a paper submitted to medRxiv prior to peer review. Half of the patients in the study were asymptomatic for more than 10 days before being hospitalized. Because of the high prevalence of neutralizing antibodies on admission, “Patient antibody screening and prioritizing convalescent plasma over patients with recent symptoms for the risk group may help patients who benefit from convalescent plasma. It will be the key to identification.”

Flock immunity is unlikely even in the most hit countries

Spain was one of the hardest hit by the coronavirus pandemic. However, according to a national survey of more than 60,000 people who use two different tests to guarantee accuracy, only 5% of the population still have antibodies that prove their previous infection with the virus. .. 70% to 90% of the population must be immune to disease to achieve herd immunity that protects uninfected individuals. Data from participants ranging from infants to people in their 90s showed some variation by region, but were not close to the levels required for herd immunity. The prevalence of coronavirus antibodies was less than 3% in coastal areas, but more than five times higher in large outbreak areas. “Even though the impact of COVID-19 is high in Spain, the prevalence estimates are low and clearly insufficient to provide herd immunity,” the study authors reported Monday in The Lancet. did. “In this situation, measuring social distances and efforts to identify and isolate new cases and their contacts are essential to control future epidemics.”

Doctors warn that child abuse may surge during pandemic

A new study from a British hospital adds evidence that domestic child abuse may have surged during a pandemic. Between late March and late April when the UK lockdown began, the number of new cases of head trauma attributed to child abuse seen by doctors at the hospital was higher than that of the same period in the last three years. Researchers report a nearly 15-fold increase in the childhood illness archive on Thursday. During the study period, a 10-year-old infant (17 days to 13 months) came to the emergency department on suspicion of head injury due to abuse, but over the past few years, doctors had about 1 such baby every few months. I was watching people. All infant families lived in areas of great social and economic distress. The authors point out that socioeconomic and psychosocial challenges associated with pandemics can increase parental stress. They warn that their data probably underestimate the magnitude of the problem. “The increased incidence seen at our institution reflects increased domestic abuse in countries that are implementing similar social distance measures,” they conclude. “This modest figure may be underestimated due to the current public avoidance of hospitals.”

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